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Njengere said the dichotomy between the formative and summative assessments is taking time to be understood clearly.
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He however acknowledged that such misunderstanding is normal at a time of transition.
Image: FILE
Kenya National Examination Council will pilot Grade 9 assessment in June.
Knec CEO David Njengere on Wednesday revealed the pilot assessment will be in preparation for the first cohort set to enroll in 2025.
The Knec boss said the pilot Grade 9 assessment will be conducted in five schools in every county.
This means that a total of 235 schools will conduct the pilot assessment.
"We are going to do a major pilot across the country in all the 47 counties in June so that by the end of this academic year around October all the schools can get sample papers of what to expect in the Grade 9 summative assessment of 2025 as learners transition to Senior School," Njengere said
Njengere spoke on Wednesday in Nairobi during the inaugural Annual Symposium on Competency-Based Assessment.
The symposium was held to keep abreast with the ongoing education reforms in Kenya that have led to changes in assessment practices and reporting.
Njengere said they are doing a lot of sensitisation and training to teachers to ensure they comprehend the curriculum and assessment for Grade 9 learners.
"As I talk to you now we have Junior School teachers Grades 7 and 8, they are in Machakos Teachers College where they are being trained on issues of assessment," the Knec boss said.
Njengere said the dichotomy between the formative and summative assessments is taking time to be understood clearly.
He however acknowledged that such misunderstanding is normal at a time of transition.
"The constructed response items, these are the free answers like where you have a structure, compositions and essays, all that is being done through the school-based assessment (SBA), that is especially in Primary level" he said.
Njengere said when it comes to the summative KPSEA assessment, that is where the learners do purely selective response items, where there are multiple choices.
"So there is nothing that is lost. Because through the School-Based Assessments, they are doing the constructed response items. Then through the summative assessment, they do the multiple choice items," Njengere said.
He said a Knec study in 2018 showed there is no significant difference in terms of performance when the learners are doing constructed or selected response items.
Additionally, Njengere said there will be alternative assessments outside the formative and summative assessments.
"Alternative assessments are a way of responding to the need to nurture every learner's potential. When we are seeking to understand your potential, it is not enough to subject you to an achievement test," Njengere said.
"For example, if you have A in Biology, Chemistry and Maths, does it mean you have the potential to be a doctor? There may be other attributes, personal attributes, especially your personality that might render you not to be a good doctor."
He said a learner may have a B+ as the average grade but they have the personality fit for a doctor.
"That is why we are saying we will not just rely on achievement tests, we will also want to find out more about you, especially your personality, your personal attributes, so that we can help you understand which career pathway will be good for you," Njengere said.